Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) discussed his book, “The Violence Inside Us,” in which he explores the United States’ history with violence.
Murphy said he came to the conclusion in his book that Americans are violent. He also suggested the inherent violence in Americans means a decrease in “deadly” weapons like AR-15s, alluding to 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse allegedly shooting rioters in Kenosha, WI.
“This book, it’s not a memoir, it’s really a story about how we got to this moment,” Murphy told MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt. “You know, it’s called ‘The Violence Inside Us’ because the conclusion I come to is that America is a violent place. We have always been a violent place. We’ve been bathed in violence from the time that the American settlers exterminated Native American tribes. But what we have chosen to do is to pour kerosene on a smoldering fire in this nation by allowing these dangerous weapons to flow throughout the nation, creating more opportunities for ordinary arguments to turn into deadly moments.”
He continued, “So, if you want to understand why we’ve gotten to a place today in which there is so much violence in this nation, whether it be homicide, civil unrest, suicides, this book will tell you why we got here, but it also gives prescription for a path forward. But it does start with just decreasing the number of weapons in the hands of wrong people and making sure that 17-year-old kids can’t so easily get their hands on a deadly weapon like an AR-15 to bring to a protest rally in a different state.”
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent